Spiritus Hominis Non - The Spirit of Man
by BlaseCobra
Summary: What makes a hero? Is it the flashy colours, or the actual deeds? Is it the ability to produce results, or the thoughts behind them? The line Danny walks is a dangerous one, half-human, half-ghost, civilian, and hero. Often times, it is up to his morals to make the final judgement call. Morals can be skewed however... Rated M for safety, and graphic imagery. A one-shot.


Danny hit the hard brick wall, cringing at the impact.

_Damn,_ he thought to himself, _who is this guy?_

Danny got back up every atom in his body, human or otherwise, attempting to resist the sudden movement. Danny sprung into the air with a jolt, allowing his spectral tail to flow behind him. He faced his attacker. The form of the ghost was simple enough, looking similar to Shadow, however having a more translucent empty glow. He had a set of piercing orange eyes, which seemed to flicker and dance as he moved. The ghost let out a deep-rooted, animalistic cry and lunged intently at Danny. Danny deflected the first blow from the ghost's razor talons, however missing the second blow, which skimmed his logo emblazoned on his hazmat suit.

"You're gonna pay for that, I liked that logo!" Danny cried as he hailed plasma bolts down upon the monstrosity. It skillfully evaded the majority of the blasts, only to meet the bottom of Danny's boot. It hit the road, leaving a dent. Danny seized the moment, scanning the area, making sure it was clear of civilians before he shifted his focus to the beast on the ground below him.

It paused for a second, shook it's head and revealed a toothy smile sporting several rows of sharp teeth. It lunged back up at Danny, who met it head on with fevered ferocity. The beast released a flurry of savage blows, all of which Danny barely blocked. This ghost was good, he had to give him that. The halfa quickly responded, forming a freeze blast in both of his hands, which he released onto the beast. The ghost dove down the ground, causing the blast to freeze a nearby tree. Danny felt the blue energy leave his eyes and retreat back to his core. He gritted his teeth and darted towards the ghost, gloved hand clenched into a tight fist. He made contact and sent the specter into a nearby lamppost. Danny quickly fumbled for the Fenton Thermos, which was attached to his belt; he promptly tore the top off and pointed it at the now downed enemy. The brilliant green beam shot out of the cool metal holster, illuminating what was otherwise a very dark night. Danny had no trouble seeing in the dark due to his ghost powers, however seeing this ghost was no easy task, the only thing he could focus on is the fiery orange eyes of his opponent.

The eyes, glowing in the now dark corner of the street, darted away from the green beam and shot towards Danny's hand. Danny felt the cool metal of the Thermos leave his hands as a rigid fist made contact with his face. Danny rocketed down to the street, bouncing slightly from impact. He quickly jumped to his feet, and produced a shield to stop the oncoming barrage of claws and gnashing teeth. The ghost, realizing the futility of its actions let out an animalistic wail and began to pound the shield with more ferociousness. Danny tried to hold as long as he could, but the shield began to crack. Thinking on his feet, he pushed the energy away from himself, causing the specter to fly back from the force. Danny, seeing an opening charged at the ghost, green eyes glowing, the ghost received Danny's intent and began to charge as well. As Danny went to land a blow the beast passed through Danny. His vision began to cloud around the edges, and he suddenly felt a large twinge of pain.

_I can't pass out yet_ Danny thought to himself

He turned to face his foe and was met with glowing orange eyes and a wide smile. Danny felt himself begin to fall, as the ghost made a hasty retreat further into the city. He watched the ghost fly away, silhouetted by the moon.

**THUD**

Once Danny regained consciousness, he gathered his scattered belongings and looked at his phone. 5:28. Parents. Curfew. Damn. He began to get up, only to fall again. Danny shook his head and slowly got to his feet, cautiously testing his movements. He then began to fly, feeling the cool night breeze in his hair. He was not a block from home when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked down and spotted a struggle in an alleyway. Although ghosts were his primary targets he was a superhero. He swooped down and landed at the opening of the alley. There were two people, one a woman, who wore a look of fear and panic, and the other a man whose face was covered by his hood. Danny stood in the entrance, the moon behind him. He spotted a gleam in the mugger's hand: a knife. Danny cleared his throat, getting the muggers attention.

"I'm all out of ghosts to fight, so you'll do"

The mugger then shifted and swung at Danny. Danny easily knocked him off of his balance. The man then scattered to his feet and released a flurry of unfocused jabs. Danny simply sidestepped each one, then with one swift movement knocked the knife from the offender's hand. The man let out a panicked gasp and swung his ham like fists at Danny. Danny deflected his first swing, getting in close to his chest then using his shoulder knocked him into the wall, forcing the man to his knees. Danny grabbed the man's hoodie and the hood softly fell off of his face. This is the first time Danny had gotten a good look at the man, he had rough stubble and torn clothes, he wore a black hoodie with the faded word Amity written across it and grey jeans. His shoes, were tattered, but must have looked nice when new. The man's bright blue eyes searched Danny's, giving away the man's legitimate harmless nature. Danny raised his fist, and struck firmly with the man's jaw, knocking him out cold. Danny looked as the lights left his eyes. He was about to let the man go when he got a small impulse to hit him again, Danny began to shrug this off but the small voice would not go away.

_You could kill him, if you really wanted to, go ahead give it a try. Just a couple more good punches, or a plasma blast. Oh you know what would be fun, going intangible and ripping out his heart. You could you know._

Danny felt a sudden surge of adrenaline, he was in control. He decided his fate. He could serve justice as he saw fit. Danny raised his fist again, and despite not wanting to, he made contact again and again with the man's nose until he drew a warm liquid. He looked at his gloved fist; the blood glowed crimson in the moonlight. Danny felt a surge of power, and before he knew it he let out a primal cry of enjoyment and began to pummel the man's face into an unrecognizable pulp. Punch after punch he made contact with the increasingly squishy surface. Blood began to spurt everywhere, covering Danny's face, hands, and jumpsuit. He only began to get ahold of himself when a greyish pink substance began to be present. Danny looked at his hands and felt sick to his stomach. Grey matter. He had just killed him, splattered his brains all over the pavement. Danny gagged and got up from his kneeled position, and attempted to get the sticky-slippery substance off of his hands. He looked at the woman, who was backed into the alley.

"I-" Danny began

"Get away from me! Somebody help me! HELP!" the woman screamed as she cowered into the corner. Danny looked at her, looked once more at the slumped form on the wall opposite of him and flew up into the night.

Danny quickly flew the last block to his house and transformed back. He looked at his hands, the blood was gone. The cuts and bruises that formed on his knuckles still remained however. Danny huffed, opened the front door and shoved his hands in his pockets. He was barely into his place of residence when a large orange figure and a contrastingly small teal one rounded the corner from the living room into the kitchen.

"And where were you young man?" Jack began

"Oh my god, Danny, where did you get these bruises?" Maddie cried gently touching the tender spots along Danny's face. Danny smacked her hand away quickly.

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing okay?" Danny retorted, seeking an exit to this conversation.

"You are SO late for curfew, you aren't going anywhere until you sit down and explain to us where you have been." Jack said, restraining his voice for the sleeping Jazz upstairs.

"Look I'm late okay? I'm going to bed." Danny said, unsure of the words coming out of his mouth. As he started towards the stairs, the big frame of his father blocked the bottom step.

"Danny, we are talking about this."

"Look, Dad, move." he said with venom in his voice

"Danny-" Jack said before being pushed out of the way by Danny. As Danny started up the stairs Jack laid a hand on his son's shoulder. Danny stopped for a moment then with superhuman speed turned around and smashed his father into the kitchen cabinet. His mother let out a panicked cry to match the surprised one made by her husband.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Danny leaned in close to his father, until their faces were less than an inch apart. "Ever." Danny, then triumphant, let go of his dad's collar and started up the staircase. Once he got into the confines of his room he looked at the glowing blue digital clock on his beside table: 6:15. It was too late to sleep now. He went to the bathroom, plugged the sink and filled the basin. Danny splashed water into his face and looked into the mirror. He looked tired, and his mother was right, there were some decent bruises. His eyes were a dull blue, but he could swear he could see them dancing in the light. He gently touched the bruises that framed his face and winced. _Great, those won't heal for a while._ Danny thought to himself.

Now came the moment that Danny greatly feared, washing his costume clean. He closed his eyes and reached deep into his core. Pulling out the ghost counterpart that he had become so close with, only this time it felt different. Hotter is the only word that could accurately describe it. Danny readied for the familiar ectoplasmic rings, which sprouted from his core and enveloped him. Danny took a moment to brace himself then opened his eyes and looked in the mirror, but did not see blood. He saw his hasmat suit, but instead of being the usual silver, it donned a deep red colour. He saw his hair now was the same deep red with a lighter red streak in it. His eyes were a blood red as well, but his irises danced like fire, reminding him of the orange pair worn by the ghost he fought earlier that night. Danny looked at his chest, where the familiar logo was no longer. _Damn,_ Danny thought _I liked that logo._ Danny stared at himself for a moment, attempting to take it all in. He raised his hand and pooled energy into it, causing it to glow the same faint red as the streak in his hair. Danny let the energy seep back into his core and fell to his knees. He reached for his phone on the edge of the bathtub and quickly fumbled with the keypad before putting the phone to his ear.

"Hey guys, I need help. Now."

"So let's see it." Sam said, almost formally, as she was sitting on the edge of his bed. Danny looked to Tucker, but was met with a curious, yet comforting expression. Danny closed his eyes; he didn't want to go back, he wanted to be him again. He wanted to be Danny Phantom. He reached inside of his core and pulled at the ghostly core, which although hotter than before, was still chilling to the bone. He felt the familiar rings sprout from his core and after a second he opened his eyes.

"Whoa," Tucker mumbled, eyes widening beneath his thick frames.

"What's going on with your eyes?" Sam queried, "Are they-"

"Flickering, yeah." Danny snapped, growing uncomfortable with the whole situation. "How can I fix this, what can I do?" Sam and his geeky friend looked at each other then dove into deep ponderance. An uneasy silence settled over the room. Tucker spoke up after a minute, "Why do you need to change? You look awesome!"

"Tucker it's messing with my mind, I killed someone!" Danny cried, frustrated at Tucker's inability to see the whole picture. A long silence ensued. Danny looked up towards Sam to see what her reaction was, only to be met with a fleeting glance. "I can't look into those for too long," Sam gingerly said

"I know it's bad, killing and all, but think about it." Tucker began, "You can eliminate baddies, for good. I'm just saying, it would save you a lot of work in the long run. You could really start cleaning up this city and the Ghost Zone." Danny pondered for a moment, looking at his hands. He could save countless lives, he could clean up the city, he could be a hero. No. A champion. _Wait,_ Danny thought _That's not part of the hero code._ Danny paused for a second

_(But I could make it part of my hero code, adapt and conquer.)_

_No, no. That's wrong, that's not who I am. That isn't the Phantom way._

Danny looked up at Sam, who was still staring at the ground. "Why is this even a decision?" Sam spurted "Tucker, why did you even say something like that?"

"Hey, I was just saying," Tucker defended "just in theory."

Danny looked up at his peers, and then down at his now red gloves, he gagged remembering how not a short time ago they were covered with grey matter and blood. "I need to get fixed" Danny said, his voice shaking "How can I do that?"

"Well, it's obviously a ghost thing, so we need a ghost." Sam said, gaining a newfound sense of determination. Tucker whipped out his PDA and brought up the list of ghosts that he had compiled.

"We need a ghost that has some serious power, but also the right type for the job." Tucker said, the reflection of the screen on his glasses covering his eyes. "Clockwork?"

"No, his employers wouldn't like that too much." Danny said reluctantly, remembering the Observants, which he wasn't too fond of.

"There's always Ghostwriter" Tucker said

"He hates me doesn't he?"

"Well, you might as well try talking to him." Sam said

"Worth a shot." Tucker reciprocated. Danny thought about it for a moment, if Ghostwriter agrees to help him, then he could just write Danny back to normal, right?

"Alright, lets try it" Danny said, a grin tugging at his lips. "But you guys need to stay here and distract my parents, we didn't exactly get along last night." Both of Danny's friends nodded, and went downstairs. Danny turned intangible and drifted through two floors until he got to the lab. He breathed in the familiar and seemingly familial smell of chemicals and ectoplasm. He opened the ghost portal, staring into its swirling green mass. Breathed a deep breath in and entered the portal.

The green swirled and clouded his eyes, but once he was on the other side he knew what to do, he went to the library where Ghostwriter was bound to be. Danny burst through the doors, "Ghostwriter," he said, "I need your help!" He then found Ghostwriter sitting peacefully at his desk, reading a book. He looked up from his thin-framed glasses. "Good day halfa, you look different, something with your hair?" Danny slipped into battle stance, only to be confused "Wait, you're not mad? You don't want to fight?"

"Of course not Phantom, you learned your lesson. That's all I care about." The writer said, gazing upon Danny's new colours. "Now what's all this, how can I help?"

"Well you see, I was fighting a ghost, something I hadn't seen before. He looked like Shadow, but with flaming orange eyes. He was strong, and at the last second he passed through me. I passed out shortly after that, and once I woke up I did some-" Danny paused for a moment, flinching "some things I'm not proud of. Then this happened to my suit." The Ghostwriter froze, and then quickly got up from his seat. He flew over to a bookshelf and took out a book with the words _Specters, Spooks, and Ghouls Vol. I_ emblazoned in golden lettering. He quickly leafed through the book and stopped abruptly. "His name is Rage, the spirit of - well you can guess. Very powerful, usually stays to his own in the Ghost Zone, those who have battled him haven't lived to tell the tale. I'm surprised you survived. What did you do after you fought him exactly?"

Danny flinched, recalling the event. "I-I beat a mugger to death"

"Oh well that's bad, but it could have been-"

"His brains were falling out!" Danny screamed, unable to contain himself anymore. The Ghostwriter paused, realizing the gravity of the situation. "I was wondering if you could, I don't know, help me out with your keyboard or something?" Danny said after composing himself. The Ghostwriter looked at him in the eyes, watching the fire dance within them. "I don't know how it will react, or what I can write you into. I don't think I can write the rage out of you, but I think I can write you into a battle with Rage. I can't promise anything though. Rage is too powerful of a ghost, there are too many variables." Ghostwriter said frantically, pacing around his workspace. "I'll do it, but I can't promise anything halfa."

"You ready?" The Ghostwriter asked, as he stared into Danny's fiery red eyes. Danny paused for a moment. "Yeah, I'm ready." He said, finding newfound confidence in his voice. The Ghostwriter summoned pink energy as his eyes turned a solid red. He began to swirl the energy around him, and summoned keyboards around his person. He looked at Danny once more, before shooting a brilliant beam of pink, bringing Danny into the story. Where Danny had once stood now laid a book titled _The Phantom Pain_. Ghostwriter eyed this book carefully, and began to type.

_Danny sputtered as he made contact with the road. It was his place of living, Amity Park. The same street where he had originally fought Rage. This was his redemption; it was all or nothing at all. Rage materialized from beneath a sewer entrance and released a loud primal roar. Danny winced for a moment then offered his own roar, surprising himself at the amount of furiosity that he had within himself. Rage looked at him, and smiled, revealing that mouth of razor sharp teeth. Danny lunged at Rage "You will pay for what you've done!" He cried, "Turn me back, now!" Danny tackled Rage into the ground, and reeled back for a punch. Rage smiled, and phased into the road, causing Danny's fist to make contact with pavement. Danny whipped around just in time to see a dark fist collide with his face. Danny bounced on the road, eventually skidding to a stop. He wearily got up, and deflected Rage's following crude slashes to his midsection. Danny released a blast of red plasma towards Rage, making contact with his midsection, causing the beast to fly back into a wall. Rage, after getting his bearings, growled and lunged at Danny, who was still glowing from the previous attack. Rage savagely pounded Danny's face until Danny reached a glowing hand up and put some distance between them in the form of another blast. _

_Rage promptly lunged readying up for a second assault. Danny formed a shield, marveling at its red glowing energy. Rage beat the shield with clenched hands until Danny couldn't hold it anymore and it eventually broke under the force. Danny flew back, hit a nearby house's brick wall, and slumped down. Rage jumped at the opportunity and began clawing and hacking at Danny, producing cuts and gashes in his jumpsuit and skin alike. Danny looked down at the oozing green liquid. Ectoplasm. Danny felt a sudden burst of rage and let it build in his core, releasing it as a bubble of energy knocking Rage onto the opposite side of the street. Danny felt his rage boil inside of him, causing his eyes to flame and glow a blood red. He lunged at Rage, who blocked all of his attacks, all the while having a grin on his face. Danny bellowed, eventually making contact with the beast's stomach. They both paused for a moment, Danny's arm outstretched, Rage then took Danny's arm and threw his body over his shoulder causing Danny to flop onto the ground. Rage then flew up, then back down with supernatural speeds, putting his razor sharp talons in front of him. Danny rolled out of the way, narrowly missing Rage's attack. It was at that moment Danny realized what Rage was, and how to beat him. _

_Danny quickly got up and lunged at Rage, a quieted expression on his face. Danny grabbed Rage's head, and opened up his core, allowing his energy to flow. Danny felt Rage's energy and accepted it into his core. Suddenly, they were one, and neither could move a muscle as the very fibre of their beings were intertwined, fighting a battle. Danny then reached inside of himself for the half Rage didn't have, his morals. The part that was neither ghost nor human, the part that just was. He let the serenity wash over him and felt as Rage's core cringed. He felt bit by bit as every part and residue of Rage's red energy dissolved, unable to combat this newfound green and silver energy. Danny then let go of Rage, knowing that the deed was done. Rage shrieked and flew backwards, grasping at the patches of changing colour in its body. Danny looked at his own hands, as the red began to drip out of his gloves, hair, and eyes. It dripped thick like blood, then disappeared into the air. Danny looked at his familiar silver gloves and smiled. He surveyed his core, to make sure that everything was as it should be, and found a small amount of red energy still left. His rage. Only this time, it was not savage and crude, it was controlled. This was his rage. This was part of him. Danny looked up at Rage, who was slowly dissipating, his form turning a greyish colour then simply falling off of him, disappearing into the breeze. Rage let out a cry of anguish and lunged at Danny pulling back a blow. Danny met Rage, also preparing to strike. The two met, and a blaze of white light enveloped the both of them._

The Ghostwriter eagerly watched the screen, a smile tugging at his lips. The book then slammed shut. "A truly great tale" Ghostwriter mused.

Danny woke up with a start, gasping for air, then realized he was in his bed. He looked around to make sure everything was where it should be, his night table was littered with books, his posters were all still up, his clothes strewn upon the ground and chair. Everything was where it should be. But was everything? Danny quickly stood up and summoned those familiar rings around his figure. He closed his eyes, then opened them again and breathed a sigh of relief to see his familiar silver hair and glowing green eyes. He looked down at his chest and saw his logo, he smiled. _I do like that logo_ he thought. Danny let out a sigh of relief, but tensed at the doorknob turned, quickly throwing his blanket over himself and changing back. He heard his Dad's voice "Hey Danny?" Danny quickly threw the covers off of himself and smoothly eased his feet to the wooden floor.

"I wanted to talk about last night." Jack began, as Danny got up from his bed, Jack tensed up ready for another assault. Danny hugged his father (as far as his arms could reach around him anyway), he felt his father relax in his arms, then reciprocate the hug. "I'm sorry." Danny said into his father's chest. Jack took a moment, smiled, and hugged his son tighter. "It's okay, we all let rage get the better of us sometimes. Now how about some breakfast? I'm microwaving waffles in the Fenton microwave!" Jack beamed. "I'll be down in a second," Danny said, "Let me just change out of my pajamas." Jack released his son, beamed at him, ruffled his hair gently then exited out of Danny's room.

Danny walked back to his bed, going to grab his signature t-shirt and jeans when he noticed something new on his bedside table. It was a book with the title _The Phantom Pain_ emblazoned in metallic silver with a black leather cover. Beneath the title was his own logo, shining in fantastic silver. Danny looked at this book for a moment, then opened the front cover, inside was a note: **_Just in case you ever want to look back, it was a great read. – Ghostwriter._**Danny smiled, and closed the cover, feeling the smooth leather cover. He looked once more at his logo, shining proudly in the sun then placed it into his book bag. _I do like that logo_ he thought to himself.


End file.
